On The Run
by BH72
Summary: A woman is being hunted but she has no idea by whom. She's on the run and after eight years of living happily with a family of winemakers and a former marine, her past has caught up to her. The team are brought into finding the marine and his sons after gunfire is reported from his property. But who the is woman and who is after her will lead the team into a fight for their lives.
1. Chapter 1

**On The Run**

By BH72

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything that is recognisable from NCIS or NCISLA. They belong to Shane Brennan and his amazing team of writers. I only own the original characters and the storyline._

_A/N: Yep, here's another new story. Try living inside my head and you'll realise what a battle I have going on in there with stories demanding to be told. So here I am writing yet another one. Hope you enjoy this as much as I have writing it._

**Chapter 1**

**_November 2006, Solvang, California…_**

Sarah had left her past behind in fear for her own life. It all happened so suddenly, one minute she was happy and felt hope for the future. One that included the man she'd fallen in love with and had surprised her with a trip to Las Vegas, where they'd got hitched. But it all came crumbling down in a sudden force, that led her to flee the city of Angels, to her current location. She'd had no time to contact her new husband about the armed men whom she'd seen raid her house. She had no idea why someone would be after her. All thoughts led her to her job as an FBI agent. She'd lived a lie for a year with Greg, telling him her alias, Sarah Grantham. That's who she'd married him as and she was happy to continue to live the lie, if it meant keeping him safe from the cruel world she dealt with in her line of work.

Two hours north of the city, her car had broken down and a wave of nausea overcame her. She knelt on the side of the road, vomiting, when a car pulled over. A tall lanky man in his early forties, walked over to her with concern. "Excuse me, miss, are you okay?"

Sarah looked up at her rescuer, Steve Crawford and shook her head. Her body was shaking from the emotion of fear and now she felt like death. He picked her up and carried her as if she was only a child and laid her in the passenger seat and took her home. He was the third generation winemaker at the Sunford Winery just outside of Solvang, California. A retired marine, who had come home to take over the family business after his father died suddenly of a hearty attack, and now found himself alone again, after his wife died six months earlier from a long battle with breast cancer. His two sons, Brent and Zac were only ten years of age and were left without their mother.

When Sarah awoke, she found herself lying under the covers of a hand made quilt, that had a variety of fabrics lovingly pieced together to make it a bedspread. Two blue eyes stared back at her as she moved her gaze around the room. "Hello."

The boys were shy and slid behind the doorframe again. They lifted their heads as they saw their father return. "I hope my boys haven't woken you." Steve entered and sat in a chair that he'd placed in the room. "How are you feeling now?"

Sarah pulled herself up to sitting position and was relieved to find herself still in her clothes. To have found herself undressed would have been awkward to say the least. "Better, thanks."

"I'm Steve Crawford. The owner of Sunford Wineries. These are my two sons, Brent and Zac. They're ten." He ushered them into the room. "Say hello to our guest, sons."

"Hello." The boys gave her an awkward smile and stood silently beside their father.

"Hello. I'm Sarah." She furrowed her brow for a moment, trying to remember her surname. What name had she decided to live by? Was it safe to live by Grantham or her married name. She wasn't sure.

"Do you have a last name, Miss?" Steve studied her while she shuffled in the bed.

Sarah scanned the room, wondering if being there was a mistake. She had intended on driving north to San Fransisco, to her parents' house. Heading home seemed the right thing to do. "I can't stay." She hesitated, unsure if she could trust them.

Steve Crawford recognised the look in her eyes, that darted towards the door every so often. _She's on the run, _he concluded. _But from what?_ "Look, Sarah, there's no pressure, if you don't want to tell us your surname. But you look like you could do with some rest. We need some help around the house, since my wife died. If you would like, you can earn your board with taking care of the house and helping out with my sons here, it would be much appreciated."

Sarah returned her gaze towards the father and thought about his proposition. A new life in a new place, where no one knew her. She would be safe here. But she only had to decide whether to live by Grantham or her married name. It was too late to tell them her real name and she wasn't sure if her real identity had been burned. Instead she nodded and agreed for this chance to rest from running before she decided on what to do.

**_October 2014, Solvang, California…_**

She shouldn't have stayed, Sarah told herself. Eight years had been too long for her to settle in the one place. Some men inquired about her, Steve had told her. He'd told them that she was his niece and had lived with them ever since his wife had died. The house was more like a mansion, with her living in the pool house for her own space. The property for the family living quarters, sat south of the main road and was cordoned off in a circular shape, from the vineyard that surrounded them. Fear grew within her, as she packed up all her essential items and packed two backpacks, one for her and one for her daughter. Molly was seven years old and reminded her very much of her husband. She had his colouring and cheekiness and Sarah loved Molly more for that fact. She missed Greg over the years but she wasn't sure if it was safe to return to Los Angeles to look for him. But now her past had caught up with her.

A helicopter flew overhead and gunfire could be heard as it rained down over the property. Steve yelled to his now eighteen year old sons, to follow him to a safe location. Memories of battles he'd fought for his country returned to his mind as he heard the gunfire. It wasn't safe to head outside and they had hidden themselves in the basement. But Sarah thought otherwise. She knew that it would only be a matter of time before these men would enter the house and turn it upside down, looking for her. She still had no idea who they were or why they wanted her. She checked the clip in her Glock and slipped it into the small of her back. "Molly. We've got to move silently without being seen. Remember what I've told you in our escape training?"

Seven year old Molly nodded her head and listened intently to her mother, trying hard to ignore the loud cutting of helicopter blades and gunfire that rained above them. They pulled dark coloured jumpers over their heads and she stood still as her mother inserted dark brown contact lenses into her eyes. She pulled down a dark brown beanie over her head to hide her blonde tresses. With her backpack on, she followed her mother, as they crawled outside underneath the tree line. She watched her mother scan the perimeter and plann the best route of escape. She followed her mom, just as they had planned many times before. She never questioned her mother why they practised their escape, she only had to look into her mother's eyes and see the fear that she carried with her. She knew it was not her father that her mother feared, but strangers, who she had no idea who they were. They had been happy living with the Crawfords, but she knew her mother missed her daddy and she couldn't wait to meet him. He sounded fun from the stories that her mother had told her about him and she couldn't wait for the three of them to be a family. But now was not the time to think about him. They had to escape their home, for fear of their lives.

They were on their last few metres along a very long line of vines, when the helicopter flew above them and more gunfire rained down on them. They could hear the vines and ground around them patter from the bullets, like it did during a storm. But this was not one storm to be caught up in, as they laid in the dirt under the vine and prayed that their lives would be spared. Sheer pain of hot burning metal seared Sarah's skin as she was hit in the arm. Blood poured out of the wound and she quickly tore some fabric off her shirt and tied it around the wound to stop the bleeding. The helicopter moved back towards the front of the property and landed. It was now or never, Sarah decided. She broke a branch off the vine and used it to brush over their tracks as she and her daughter ran, crouched down for the Santa Ynez river, that bordered the southern edge of the property. She knew that there was a wooded area where they could get lost in, once they crossed the river.

Inside the basement, Steve and his sons hid as they heard foreign voices and heavy footsteps above them. Six men trampled through the property in search for the woman. After eight long years, they had finally found her and they weren't going to allow her to escape this time. They'd returned with full force, to ensure that if she tried to escape, they would block all access for her to do so and take her captive. But as they searched through the house, they couldn't find any signs of the woman or any traces of her ever living there. Photos showed only that of the owner and his sons and his dead wife. They found the entrance to the basement and with their guns at the ready, they headed down the stairs. They turned the lights on and found Steve and his sons, huddled together in a corner.

"Where's the woman?" Steve shook his head.

He'd fought with Sarah on what to do, but she was insistent to make a run for it. "It's not safe for any of us, if I stay. It's me they're after." She'd admitted to him that she had no idea who they were or why, only that she'd seen armed men raid her house back in Los Angeles, when she fled. Steve had asked her about Molly's father and she'd told him that he had nothing to do with this and that she'd run away without telling him, in hope to protect him. But by staying, she had placed the Crawfords in danger instead.

The man with blond hair, pulled him up onto his feet and held a gun to his temple. "Where is she?"

"I don't know. She left." It was the truth, but nothing he would say would appease the man.

Blood spattered onto the walls and surrounding area. Both of Steve's sons covered their heads as they knew that their father had just been slaughtered by this intruder. "Please don't hurt us. We don't know where she is."

The man who appeared to be the only one who could speak English took pity on the young men, shooting them in the leg and leaving them to bleed out. Brent and Zac cried out in pain, only for their pleas for help fall on deaf ears. They were left in their father's blood and in their own pain, and locked in the basement. Brent pulled out his cell and turned the torch app on. "Remember how Sarah showed us to stop the bleeding?" Zac nodded. Both of them ripped fabric off their shirts and tied a tourniquet over their wounds, although pain shot through their bodies from the action. It would buy them the time till help arrived. Brent dialled 911 and cursed at the no signal response. "They must have killed the cell tower. We need to move away from the blood." Both boys knew that there was nothing that either of them could do for their father now. He'd died trying to protect them and Sarah from what evil pursued her. They prayed that Sarah and Molly had managed to escape without being caught or killed.

_A/N: Not a good time for Sarah, whoever she really is. Yes she's an FBI agent, but you'll soon see how the NCIS team from OSP are tied into this story. Remember how Steve Crawford was a marine? Let's hope his sons, Sarah and her daughter survive. Love to know your thoughts, please leave a review._


	2. Chapter 2

**On the Run**

By BH72

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything that is recognisable from NCIS or NCISLA. They belong to Shane Brennan and his amazing team of writers. I only own the original characters and the storyline._

_A/N: Time for our favourite agents to come into play. Love it when our team comes together. A lot will be revealed in this chapter, enjoy!_

**Chapter 2**

**_Office of Special Projects…_**

It was a Saturday, their first free weekend in ages, after all the terror alerts that had come their way since two months ago. The team were running on the dregs of their energy level, when they had all been called in. Deeks moaned the loudest but stopped when Hetty glared at him. "I'm sorry, for having to call you all in on the weekend, again," she told them. "But Director Vance has asked us to take this case onboard." She turned to face Eric and Nell for them to start briefing the agents.

"Last night, residents in Solvang, California reported to local police of hearing gunfire coming from a helicopter. The helicopter fired upon one property, Sunford Wineries. The owner, Steve Crawford and his sons live on this property. None of them have been seen since the reports came in. Mr Crawford is a former marine, who retired ten years ago after his father died, to take over the family business. We're not sure if this has anything to do with his previous operations in Iraq or Serbia. But employees for the winery reported some foreign men inquiring about a woman who was suspected to be living with the Crawfords. They only knew her as Sarah, no last name is known by any of the employees. Questioned further, the employees stated that she's lived with them for eight years and keeps to herself. Their employer told them that she was his niece who came to live with them after his wife died to help around the house and raising his twin sons, who were only ten at the time. They're now eighteen and missing." Nell explained to them.

"Do you have any details on the woman?" Callen studied the photos of the Crawford family closely.

"Nothing at the moment. She kept to the house, so no one knows much about her, only that she existed and has a daughter. We're trying to find details from the local school if she attended there." Callen stared at Eric as if he had an alien sitting on his head.

"A daughter? How old?" His chest tightened as he took in the details.

"Old enough to be in school," Eric looked over to Nell concerned with Callen's facial expression.

The team left immediately to drive the two hour drive north to the crime scene and search for clues of where the Crawfords and this Sarah had gone to. Callen appeared quiet on the drive with none of his usual banter with his partner, or talking about their new case. Sam looked over to him every so often, confused on what was going on in his partner's head. "You want to share, G?"

Callen turned and looked nonchalantly to his partner. "No." He returned to gazing out at the scenery as they headed north.

"Something hit close to home?" Sam wondered if this case had unburied pain from his past, losing his mother at a young age. The boys had been ten when their mother died. Older than Callen had been when he'd lost his own mother, but still, sometimes a case like this would dig up the pain and have him brooding.

Callen glared with his steely blue eyes over to his partner. "You trying to shrink me, Sam? I don't see Nate here, so don't go there." He snapped at him and regretted his reaction immediately. "I'm sorry, Sam."

"No problem. I get it, you're brooding again. I just wish you'd talk to me about it. You don't seem to talk to me about anything anymore. Not even about you and Joelle. How are things going there?" Sam put on his big bright smile, hoping the change of subject would lighten the mood.

"What is it with you and Michelle wanting details about Joelle and our relationship all the time. We're good, okay. What's there to tell?" He heaved out a sigh, annoyed for Sam bringing up the subject of Joelle again.

"Because we care. We want you to be happy. Is there a crime in that?" Sam worried when Callen didn't reply and remained focused on the outside of the car. His thoughts were far away, Sam noted and saw how tense his body was as he sat in the passenger seat."

After two hours of silence between the two partners, Sam and Callen pulled up in front of the mansion. It was the only way to describe the house. It was huge and reflected on how successful the wine business was doing these days. Kensi stepped in line and complained to them that Deeks wouldn't shut up for the two hour drive. Sam turned and looked at her. "You can go home with Callen. He won't talk even to me." He mumbled and Callen glared at him again, annoyed.

The four agents entered and were greeted by the local police department. They were updated on what they had found in the house, but still none of the family had been found. "Is there a basement underneath this house?" Deeks inquired, thinking that if his house was under attack and he had a basement, that would be where he would hide."

Deeks and Kensi followed the local detective, while Sam and Callen searched the pool house for evidence of the woman and her daughter. The house had no trace of the woman and her child ever living there, but Sam picked up on covered tracks outside in the garden. He followed them and found himself on a trail along one of the rows of vines. Callen followed him, knowing to trust Sam's instincts. They came to the end of the row and looked over towards the river. "Someone's gone this way. They've covered their tracks well. Could be Crawford and his sons. From what I can see, two or three people moved through here." They walked across the dirt track and found some more. "They've crossed the river. No one followed them." Hope rose within them that the family had escaped. They found more on the south side of the river which led them into the wooded area, but stopped at a tree. To the untrained eye, they wouldn't have been found, but Sam's training as a Navy SEAL, had led them to this particular tree. He looked up at the tree and could see signs of someone hidden up there. He placed his finger over his mouth and indicated upwards to his partner. He began to climb and had almost made it, when he heard the familiar sound of a click of a gun. He looked up and came face to face with a Glock. "I wouldn't move any closer, if I was you."

Sarah held her weapon at the man below her with her left arm. Her right arm throbbed with pain and sweat beaded on her forehead. She knew she had a fever and most probably had an infection set in from her bullet wound. But she would fight with all her might to protect her daughter and herself.

"It's okay. I'm a Federal Agent. You're safe." Sam tried to appease the woman. He was surprised at how beautiful she was even in her dirty state. He noted the girl who gripped the trunk of the tree had hid her face from view.

"Which agency?" Sam knitted his brows slightly, this woman must be one of them. It was the only cause for her to ask such a question. The covered tracks was proof that this woman had some form of agent training.

"NCIS." He pulled his identification out of his pocket and showed the woman. "You must be Sarah. My partner and I have been looking for you. Locals reported the helicopter and gunfire over the property overnight. You look like you've been hit." He studied her arm and also noticed blood dripping from her right foot. "You're still bleeding from your foot."

The woman looked down and furrowed her brow. She hadn't noticed the hit in her foot until he'd mentioned it. The adrenaline that pumped through her body had dulled the pain in her foot, although she'd felt the one in her arm. It was then that she noticed another figure climbing up the other side of the tree. She moved her weapon towards him as he moved closer.

"It's okay. It's just my partner," Sam tried to appease her, but she was still very much on edge.

Callen looked up and caught her gaze. "Sarah."

"Greg?" Eight long years it had been since she'd vanished and after all of the searches, here she was, up a tree, hiding in fear for her life and that of their daughter's.

"You two know each other?" Sam looked over to his partner and noticed that he wasn't surprised to find her there. Frustration surged through him that once again Callen refused to talk to him about it.

Callen looked over to their daughter who'd seen him climb up the tree. Her matching blue eyes stared back at him, now that her mother had removed the brown contact lenses. Dirt had gotten underneath and caused pain for her. She knew his name and focused her attention only on him. For all of her life she had waited for this moment. "Daddy?"

Sam's eyes widened over to his partner's. His brooding made sense to him now, but why hadn't he told him that he had a daughter.

"It's okay, sweetheart. Daddy's not going to let anyone hurt you or Mommy again." It was a promise that he was determined to keep. They were his family, although he'd only discovered they had a daughter a few hours earlier.

"You're a Fed?" Surprised crossed over Sarah's face at the irony of the situation. "I ran to keep you safe."

"Whose after you, Sarah?" Callen held onto his daughter as she moved to the branch closer to him.

"I don't know. I found some armed men raid my house. I didn't know who they were or why they were there. I wasn't sure if my real identity had been burned. So I ran, but my car broke down near hear. Steve, he found me sick on the side of the road. Are they okay?" Concern for the Crawfords entered the forefront of her mind.

"We don't know. We can't find anyone," Sam told her.

"They're hiding in the basement," she wiped her forehead and suddenly felt dizzy.

"We need to get you down from this tree." Sam worried over the physical state of Sarah. She nodded in response.

"Molly, go down with Daddy. He'll take care of you." The girl nodded her head and climbed down with Callen.

Once they climbed down, Sam held onto her, for support. But another wave of dizziness overcame her and he picked her up and placed her at the base of the tree. Molly clung onto Callen, in fear that if she let him go, he'd vanish.

"Jo and I have been searching for you." Callen managed to kneel down beside her and checked over her wound. He looked over to Sam. "We need a medical kit to attend to her wounds."

"You found Joey?" Callen nodded and surprised crossed Sam's face.

"Yes. She's been looking for you. She moved to L.A. to find you."

"How did you find her, I never told you my real name." Callen gently brushed some hair from off her face.

"She taught Sam's daughter in kindergarten." He looked over to his partner who was carefully taking her shoe off her injured foot to take a closer look at it. "Sam and his wife had this brainwave of an idea to set me up on a blind date with her."

"You're dating my sister?" Her voice raised higher, as pain shot through her.

"No. But Sam here thinks we are. How could I, I've been searching for you for eight years."

Sam shook his head in disbelief. "You're Alyssa. Joelle's twin sister." They'd heard Joelle tell them about her plight in looking for her sister for the past eight years. She'd moved from San Francisco for that very reason. He just hadn't been clued in that Callen had a past with her and had used his time with Joelle to find her.

"Yes, I am." She furrowed her brow in pain. Her left arm moved with her weapon in hand as she heard footsteps come their way.

"Whoa!" Deeks held his hand up to surrender to her. Although she was injured and clearly exhausted, Deeks didn't want another bullet wound in his body.

"It's okay, they're with us." Callen told her and she instantly relaxed. He looked to Kensi. "Have you got your medical kit with you?"

Kensi nodded. Callen knew she could be depended on for being prepared. He looked to his daughter. "I'm just going to put you right down next to Mommy, okay?"

Molly shook her head and buried herself into his shoulder.

"Look sweetheart. I need to tend to Mommy's arm. You see how she's hurt?"

Kensi gave Deeks a look of surprise to see Callen being so good with the girl. But she wouldn't let him go. Callen stood up and stepped back. He looked to Kensi. "I need you to clean her up and redress her wound. Molly won't let me go." Kensi nodded and moved in beside Sarah.

Deeks watched on intrigued how the girl latched onto Callen so easily. "Did you find anyone in the basement?" Callen inquired of Deeks, knowing that he'd asked the question earlier and after what Sarah had told him, he'd hoped with them being now with them, that they had found them safe.

"We did." Deeks looked to Sarah and and then the girl.

"Are they safe?" Sarah inquired of him.

"Both boys were shot in the leg. They did a good job of tying some fabric from their shirts for a tourniquet to stop the bleeding. They were dehydrated and exhausted, but relieved to be alive. They've been taken to Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital." Deeks took in a deep breath and looked back over to Sarah. "I'm sorry, but your uncle didn't survive his injuries."

Sarah took in a ragged breath and tears fell. She shook her head as she tried to rein in her emotions. Molly clung on tighter to Callen who tried to soothe her softly. "He was such a nice man. He didn't deserve any of this." She looked over to Callen and saw him soothing Molly. "It's all my fault. I should never have stayed."

Callen's head turned and caught her gaze. "No, it's not. Don't go blaming yourself for this. I just wish you had come to me and not ran."

Kensi looked up to her partner and saw the confusion in his expression also. "Are we missing something here?" Deeks finally asked.

"Apparently so." Sam replied, still feeling hurt from being kept in the dark by his partner.

"I'm sorry, Sam. All of you. But with our line of work, I kept Sarah from you. Then she vanished and I've been searching for her for the past eight years."

Deeks went to open his mouth, but quickly shut it. He looked to Sam who was dressing Sarah's foot and saw the hurt there.

"Until Eric told me Sarah's name and that she had a daughter, I had no idea about Molly or that Sarah was hiding here." His words hit Deeks and Kensi and they both realised why the girl was clinging onto Callen. He was her father.

"We've got to move them to a safe location, before whoever did this comes back." Sam stood as Callen's cell rang.

Callen pulled it out of his pocket and saw that it was their boss, Hetty.

"Mr Callen. Have your found Sarah and the girl?" Callen knew instantly that Hetty had discovered the truth over who she was.

"Yes we have, Hetty. How…"

"Mr Beale and Miss Jones have been working tirelessly here to find out the woman's identity. They discovered a seven year old girl who looks like the spitting image of you, carrying your alias' family name of Wolinski." He picked up the annoyance in her voice.

"I only discovered about my daughter today, Hetty. I had no idea where Sarah's been hiding for the past eight years and it's not from not trying." He heaved out a large sigh.

"Why didn't you trust your partner and myself with the news that you were married to Miss Taylor? You led us all along about you being in some sort of relationship with her twin sister, Joelle for the past six months. We could have helped you in finding them."

Callen's jaw clenched tight, he was sick of people interfering with his personal life all the time. "Well you've had no luck in finding my father for all of these years, Hetty, so how would you've been able to find my wife for me?"

Deeks and Kensi shared another look of surprise between them. This woman was not only the mother of his child but was also Callen's wife.

"I never once stated that Joelle and I were in some form of a relationship to any of you, Hetty. You went along with Sam and Michelle's ploy to hook me up with her. But I have to thank you all for your part, because I found my wife's family and her true identity." His reunion with his family hadn't gone to plan at all. It had become some form of public display amongst his team, with his personal life being dragged through the mud, with them pointing accusations at him over his so called relationship with his sister-in-law. "We've been working together to find her. That's why there was never anything to tell you." He huffed and would have hung up, but he took in a deep breath to rein it all back inside of him for his family's sake.

"Well we have another situation arising down here, Mr Callen." Callen furrowed his brow.

"What's going on, Hetty?"

_A/N: The next chapter will go back two hours. What a surprise for the team to discover that Callen has a wife and daughter and their lives are in danger. Love to know your thoughts, please leave a review._


	3. Chapter 3

**On the Run**

By BH72

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything that is recognisable from NCIS or NCISLA. They belong to Shane Brennan and his amazing team of writers. I only own the original characters and the storyline._

_A/N: Curious to know what's been happening in Los Angeles?_

**Chapter 3**

**_Two hours earlier, Los Angeles…_**

Eric and Nell were busy trying to find out more detail on this woman, Sarah, when an alert came up on Eric's monitor. "What the hell?"

Nell looked over at the camera feed that came up onto the screen and furrowed her brows. She picked up the phone and dialled their boss. "Hetty, you better see this."

Henrietta Lange was relishing on having the ground floor much to herself, with her A team out of town for most of the day. She pried her petite form out of her chair and climbed back up those ridiculous stairs. She had to admit that climbing up and down stairs wasn't getting any easier for the almost seventy year old. Her joints ached at night and she found herself taking vitamins and minerals to help her body to keep going. When she entered the Ops Centre her eyes widened at the image of six armed men searching through Callen's house. They knew his house was sparsely furnished and it was on occasions such as this one, that Callen would be thankful for that he had hardly anything for them to destroy. But what had her catching her breath, was the fact that if Callen hadn't been called in for a case that day, he would have been home and outnumbered. Six armed men against one would have resulted in his death, that was certain.

"Do we have any details on who these men are or who they work for?"

Eric increased the volume and was thankful that Callen had installed the best there was for cameral surveillance, without being visible. These men had no idea that they were being watched as they continued to scour the house for Callen. They watched them yank every drawer out on the floor and throw all the contents out and all his clothes, boxes and possessions thrown out of the cupboards and closets. Whatever these men were searching for, they hadn't found what it was. Annoyed, they left the house a mess and drove off.

"Follow them, Mr Beale." She watched the van head south then east, towards Huntington Park. Eric nodded and placed the details into Kaleidoscope.

"Did you understand what language that was, Hetty?" Nell looked to their boss with an expectant expression and worry for Callen in her eyes.

"Russian." Hetty replied, but her mind was elsewhere. Her focus came back into view and faced her analyst. "What happened to Mr Callen's tea box that he keeps on the mantel?"

Both Eric and Nell returned to the footage and were glad that it all had been recorded for them to analyse. "There was never a tea box on the mantel, Hetty."

Hetty furrowed her brow for a moment. "Go back to this morning, Mr Beale. Let's watch Mr Callen's movements earlier?"

"Isn't that breaking his privacy, Hetty?" Eric raised his brow surprised that Hetty would ask him to spy on their team leader.

"We need to ascertain what happened to Mr Callen's most treasured items, Mr Beale." She gave him the gorgon stare and waited for him to cooperate.

Eric gulped and capitulated and went back to five in the morning. The time they all knew when he arose from his bed roll. They watched him fist his hands up tight and release them as he paced his living room floor. Something had obviously been on his mind that morning. Was it another nightmare? He spoke in Russian as he paced and then his eyes set on the tea box on the mantel. He took the remaining steps over to the box and opened it up. He rummaged through the photos he'd been given over the past few years and then he stopped at a photo on the bottom of the pile. He pulled it out and traced his hands over the image. They couldn't from their position see who was in the photo, but whoever it was, meant a great deal to him, so they knew that it wasn't a photo of himself. Hetty knew he had a photo of his mother, Clara, because she'd given it to him. So her thoughts went towards thinking it was her. But what neither of them knew, was it was a photo he kept hidden from them all. It was one Joelle had given him of his wife, Alyssa. Although he'd only ever known her as Sarah Grantham, Alyssa Taylor was the real woman behind his wife and he loved her even after eight years of her missing. He mumbled and even Hetty couldn't understand what it was that he was saying. Then he placed it into the shirt pocket, close to his chest and closed the tea box up. He picked it up and threw it into his go bag and placed it into his bag. He climbed into his car and drove off.

"Do we know where he went?" Hetty inquired and immediately Eric pulled up a camera feed outside his girlfriend's house, Joelle Taylor. Callen grabbed his go bag and unlocked the front door and entered.

"There's our answer. But why take his tea box with him? He's always kept it at home."

"Something was bothering him this morning. From what I could pick up from his mumblings, he didn't feel safe. That would explain why he took the tea box with him and headed for Miss Taylor's."

Nell's computer beeped and an image of a blonde haired, blue eyed seven year old girl came up on the screen. "Hetty, are you seeing this?"

Hetty narrowed her eyes and held firmly onto the back of Nell's chair. "Miss Jones, who is the girl?"

"The daughter of the woman living with Steve Crawford. We now have a name. Molly Wolinski. Mother's name on the enrolment says Sarah Wolinski and the father, Greg Wolinski." Nell knitted her brows together in confusion. "Isn't that Callen's alias for his house?"

"Yes, it is indeed, Miss Jones. I think Mr Callen has a lot of explaining to do." Hetty shook her head in disbelief that Callen had kept a wife and child hidden from her for all of these years. "It also explains why there was the attack on the Crawford's property last night and on Mr Callen's home this morning."

"You think they're related?" Eric inquired, his eyes almost popping out of his head.

"Mr Beale, now we have a name for the woman and her child and it matches Mr Callen's alias for his house, the probability is over 100 percent." Hetty huffed out. "I need to make a call. Find where that van vanished to, Mr Beale. We cannot afford to lose them." She left them and headed down to her office and picked up her phone.

"Henrietta, what a surprise." Arkady Kolcheck smiled at the beautiful woman who delivered his morning coffee at the gym.

"Mr Kolcheck, we need to talk. Can you meet me at the boat shed in the next half an hour?" Hetty looked at her watch and noted that her agents would still be travelling to Solvang.

"Is something the matter, Hetty? Is Callen alright?" Worry for his old friend made him frown.

"Someone is looking for him and his family."

Hetty's words sunk in and he realised that the Dutchess of Deception had discovered Callen's secret about his wife. "Okay, Henrietta. I will meet with you in half an hour." He disconnect the call and stood up from his chair. He needed to get changed out of his gym gear and back into a suit. He never liked meeting with someone in anything less.

**_Boat Shed…_**

They sat at the table in the middle of the boat shed and shared a cup of tea, although Arkady would have preferred a coffee, seeing he'd left his back at the gym, untouched.

"Are you aware of Mr Callen having a wife and daughter, Mr Kolcheck?" Hetty studied him, aware of how good he was at deflecting his own emotions, very much like her team leader and wondered where Callen had inherited the skill.

Arkady slightly creased his brow, before looking over to her. She may be smaller than him, but he knew that she could injure him badly enough to cause him a great deal of pain. She wasn't one to cross and he treaded lightly. "Callen came to me six months ago to help him find someone. He'd given me a name and a photo of her. She was very beautiful. Apparently she's been missing for almost eight years. I told him that I wasn't in the business of doing him favours."

"So you didn't search for her?" Hetty held her hands interlinked in front of her on the table.

"You've got to understand, Hetty. I can't have Callen think that I care about him." He heaved out a sigh. "But the truth is I do. You see, I know who he really is and his father very well. But I've been sworn to secrecy by his father and only to watch over him." He stood up and began to pace the room. "Callen is my nephew. Nikita is my older brother who has been in hiding since I helped him escape the prison camp in Siberia back in the seventies. When Callen asked me to find Sarah Grantham, I had to pretend that I wasn't interested."

"Did you search for her?" Arkady nodded. "Did you find her?"

"No, I didn't. You mentioned that they have a daughter?"

Hetty nodded. "Yes. Her name is Molly Wolinski and been living on a property in Solvang with her mother and a former marine and his sons."

"Wolinski? Isn't that the name Callen he uses for his house?"

"Yes. You see, when Callen and Sarah met, they were both using aliases due to their line of work. They married under the aliases of Greg Wolinski and Sarah Grantham. But the truth is, that Sarah is really Alyssa Taylor…"

"And Callen is really another alias I placed him and his sister in after I rescued them from Romania."

"So it was you who rescued them and brought them to America?"

Arkady nodded, the sadness in his eyes were clear as day. " I wanted to keep them with me, but with Nikita being in danger, it wasn't safe. So I hid them under their mother's name for protection."

"What is Mr Callen's real name, Arkady? What does the G stand for?" Hetty stood and walked over to where the Russian stood, looking through a window out at the marina.

"Gale Alexander Reznikov." Arkady heaved about another sigh. "It wasn't safe to give either of them their father's name. Especially not in America."

"Where is Nikita now?" She inwardly smiled at the thought that she now had his name to give to him. And a family member. If only Arkady would relent and tell him who he is.

"He's hiding in a small town called Morro Bay, about three and a half hours drive north of here." He leaned on the post and looked down at the older woman. "I'm sorry, Hetty. I wish I could have done more for him. I've loved him like a son for so long."

"Haven't we both. It's such a shame that neither of us could have done more for him. But now we have a bigger problem. A helicopter rained bullets over the property where Sarah and Molly have been living and no one has seen them or the Crawfords since. Employees for the Crawfords told the local police about some men with a foreign accent inquire about Sarah and this morning, six armed men, speaking Russian invaded Mr Callen's house. Thankfully, I had to call my team in to deal with this case in Solvang, so he wasn't home." Hetty shook her head and set her arms down straight beside her for strength. "Who is after Mr Callen and his family?"

Arkady knew it was fruitless. He needed to share the intel with Hetty, in order to keep Callen and his family safe. "The Russian government. They want Callen to draw Nikita out, so they can kill him. Someone must have seen Callen and Sarah together and chose her as the weaker target."

"Only they didn't know that she too was living a lie and was really an FBI agent."

Arkady's head shot up and caught her gaze. "She is?"

"Yes. So they've been trying to find her for as long as Mr Callen and her sister."

"Aah, Joelle. Such a beauty. I couldn't understand at first why Callen had no interest in her, when I met her the first time. But when I noticed how important it was for Callen to find Sarah, I realised that she already had his heart."

"It also means that Mr Callen is not safe. That his true identity has been burned and he along with his wife and daughter are all in danger." Hetty pondered for a moment. "I've got to head back, Arkady. But you need to contact Nikita and tell him what's going on. I need to contact Mr Callen and see if he's found them."

"I will, Hetty. I hope you can hide them and keep them safe. He and his daughter are all we've got of the next generations in our family. With Amelia gone, they've all we've got left."

Hetty raised her brow and pondered over whether to come clean. "Ask Nikita to call me."

Arkady nodded and left the boat shed. It had been a huge ask to give what details he had on Callen to Hetty, but he knew that she had his best interest at heart for a real long time.

_A/N: Were you surprised over the developments going on back in Los Angeles? What do you think about Callen's real name of Gale and about Arkady being his uncle? Love to know your thoughts, please leave a review._


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